Manchester United have been told they were right to let Jadon Sancho leave the club in the summer, despite the winger now flourishing at Chelsea.
The 24-year-old had fallen out of favour at Old Trafford under then manager Erik ten Hag and sealed a deadline day loan move to Stamford Bridge in the summer. The former Borussia Dortmund man has contributed to five goals in 12 appearances so far this season and has performed admirably in recent weeks.
football.london understands Chelsea have an obligation to buy Sancho at the end of the season for around £25million and that certainly feels like good business going on the winger's performances this campaign. Former Man Utd star Gary Pallister believes the Red Devils were right to let go of Sancho in the summer, although he admitted the England international looks like a "different player" under Enzo Maresca.
Speaking to MyBettingSites.co.uk, Pallister said: "I was one of the people really keen to see Jadon Sancho come to Manchester United. I thought what I was seeing, in the Champions League, was a wonderful player, playing with confidence, scoring, assisting, being a real player and he was being headhunted by Man Utd for a couple of seasons. So I was delighted when they got the business done and he came to the club.
“I go to United every other week, and watch a lot of home games. I've got to say his performances didn’t match up. He got plenty of chances. Whatever the reason, whether that be the personality clash with ten Hag, I do not know, but in terms of what he was producing on the field, I have to agree with the manager on why he left him out. Because I don’t think he was putting in the performances.
"He goes back to Dortmund, we see the performances again. At Chelsea we see him scoring goals and looking like a different player.
“Again we’re second guessing what went on there. Was it just purely the relationship that broke down with ten Hag and it was never going to mend? Once you’re in that kind of a situation, it’s hard for the manager to pick you and it’s hard for the player to play at his best. So, I think in the end it was inevitable that he was going to leave.”
Man Utd's loss is certainly Chelsea's gain, with the player himself seemingly enjoying life in west London. On Monday evening Sancho took to Instagram to post a number of pictures of himself in action during Sunday's win against Brentford. Seen smiling with the likes of Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo, Sancho captioned the post: "Strong team performance!"
Judging by comments on the post by teammates Palmer and Marc Cucurella, Sancho is a popular member of the Chelsea camp and that certainly shows with his performances. If the Blues continue their impressive form and perhaps even win a trophy under Maresca, you can bet Sancho will have a big part to play along the way.